Every business owner we know wants to get back to work as quickly as possible, back to serving the communities we love. We know that we have a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy workplace. And we want to do everything we can to protect our most valuable asset, our employees.
But how do we actually do that?
OSHA has already put out guidance on what business owners can do to prepare their workplaces and for a return to work in the new realities of our Covid-19 world. These guides cover basic hygiene practices, infection prevention measures, identification of affected individuals, safe work practices, PPE, how to assess the risk level to your employees, and workplace testing.
But what if that isn’t enough?
Recently, a judge in Chicago found that an employer was not doing enough to protect employees DESPITE many steps the company took to get back to work safely. The company issued a 59-page safety guide and rolled out system wide safety training on the new protocols. They implemented contactless purchases, social distancing and installed plexiglass barriers for customer facing interactions. They also required temperature checks, health questionnaires, gloves, and masks for all employees.
Everyone wants to get back to work.
If you are stuck scratching your head, wondering how you can do that, you are not alone. We are all trying to figure out how to keep our employees, our community, our selves and our families safe. We believe that the disconnect here is that we are trying to retro-fit new safety measures to our old ways of working.
We believe that the solution is dramatically changing the ways that we work, especially in an office environment.